I know it's still Sunday night and this week's games haven't even finished up yet, but with board members heralding the Patriots' apocalypse, I thought it was especially important to turn an eye towards next week immediately.

Ongoing storylines

-Tipped passes: can we ever come up with interceptions off of them

-Running game: life after Taylor's injury

-Passing game: Brady still adjusting to game-speed, reads, mechanics

-Blind side pass blocking: two weeks, two strip sacks

-In 3 seconds or less: can the Patriots get to the quarterback before Dominos' delivery can?

Titans:

Will we see Vince Young? Or are they sticking with the idea that they can climb from 0-5 and still make the playoffs?

Wild Horses offense: Is this the last we see of it? Do the Titans have the personnel (QB, RB's, TE, and WR's) to execute it?

Can Brady take advantage of the Titans' pass defense?

Can the defense contain Chris Johnson and LenDale White?

Will there be a Joey Galloway sighting?

Will there be a BenJarvis Green-Ellis sighting?

Can the Patriots establish the run despite the Titans' stout run defense? (2.3ypc prior to Colts game)

Interesting that the Titans' run D is so good. From what I've heard their pass D is awful. The formula for the Pats all decade against such a D has been pass, pass, and pass some more.

One thing I have hated seeing this season is Pass-Run-Pass -that seems to have consistently set up 3rd and 7. So, speaking of that third receiver - let's hope Aiken or Maroney or Faulk or Baker or even Watson step it up and catch lots of passes for first downs. You too, Galloway.

How about some consistency!! That's what I want to see more than anything. And how about some better play calling. Still a lot of head scratching for some of those play calls in the Broncos game. Is BB trying to hard to create a balanced offense to the detriment of consistent play?

Also, in regulation, the Pats D has yet to yield more than 17 points a game. If we were told this at the beginning of the season, we'd be thrilled, yet, the offense has been woefully disappointing. So Jekyll and Hydish!

This is the last place they want to be in, needing a win against a good team with their backs against the wall. The play calling needs to get back to being unpredictable instead of flat, boring and totally predictable. Add some gadget plays like they were known for.

They also need to have all their weapons available for this and that means you Galloway/Maroney/Watson!!! Looking at Moss and throwing to WW every time they need a play gets a little easy to read for me, I can imagine how a D captain feels.

Last but not least our illustrious quaterback needs to stop complaining about missed opportunities and start delivering like we all know he can.

This is the last place they want to be in, needing a win against a good team with their backs against the wall. Posted by Sam-Adams

0-5 Tennessee, fresh off a three-touchdown beating, is a good team?

I can understand underdoog insisting that the Titans are a Super Bowl-calibre team that is merely having a run of bad luck, as he needs some rationale to raise his own heroes above their current status as a good team in a bad division with little of substance (outside the Pats) on their schedule.

But don't prep yourself for potential disaster by pretending the Titans are "better than their record indicates."

They're not.

Truth is (and the lifeless among you -- you know who you are -- could look this up), I was one of the leaders of the Tennessee Is A Mirage Club last season and its lack of any success at all this season is only mildly surprising to me, particularly given the loss of its defensive fulcrum.

The Pats will wreck Tennessee, and the pendulum will swing back and all the yahoos who want to anoint Belichick King and have Brady's children when the Pats win -- and who scream for both their heads when they lose -- can relax for another week (really three, given the bye against Tampa and the actual bye).

Look at the bright side . . .

That vein in your head probably won't start pulsing again at least until Nov. 15.

But don't prep yourself for potential disaster by pretending the Titans are "better than their record indicates."

They're not.

Pmike, I've been saying this is the breakout week since week two and I haven't seen it yet. I know it's only been a few weeks but what I do see is a team that has that potential to blow games open fail to execute on offense and give up long drives. The play calling is off, the execution is off, the timing is off, the pass rush is non existent, third down conversions in the second half are off on both side of the ball and they have no fire.

I don't doubt you called out the Titans last year but any team that won 13 games the year before and starts out 0-5 has their backs against the wall and is dangerous. I'm sure you didn't see them going 0-5 no matter how much you saw through them.

My post isn't necessarily giving credit to Tennessee as much as it's heeding caution for the Pats. I hope you're right and they have that game we're all looking for.

The Titans are tailor-made for pass-happy teams like the Pats (and Colts). My biggest concern is how the insertion of Vollmer into the blocking schemes will effect the play calling. I am willing to give Brady the benefit of the doubt, given his history against Denver, but the combination of a huge question mark on the offensive line and an erratic Brady could make the offense go wild conservative, which would spell doom against a team like Tennessee. Even in their victories, the Pats have been letting teams hang around. The Baltimore game should not have been as close as it was and the first and second halves in Denver were like two entirely different games.

If the Pats are actually any good, they will get up on Tennessee early and stay there. If they don't, the Chicken Little's around here are going to have a field day.

And as currently constructed, you are correct, the titans can be thrown on. DB's are hurt and out, Haynesworth is gone, and as long as your LT or a double team can stop Vanden bosch (sp) the pats should have a nice day.

Of course, this assumes that Brady can hit his targets.

One other note worth repeating. When Vanden bosch does his spin move, he gets very low, losing his balance, which has him careening right into the path of the opposing QB's left knee. He did it 2 plays in a row to Manning. One was flagged the other wasn't. I hope the pats took that one out of Brady's film study.

Wow, how one week changes things... LOL! I still maintain they go to the bye week with a 6-2 record, which was my pre season prediction. I also still maintain the one wild card game for me in the first half was Denver. I know TB in London is weird and anything could happen there I guess with the trip affecting the Patriots maybe but I think the Patriots could beat TB anywhere anytime and in any competition I don't care if it was Cribbage.So my prediction is:Patriots: 27Titans: 17

I think the key to this game will be, Sebastian Vollmer pass blocking against two solid d-ends Jevon Kearse, and Kyle Vanden-Bosh, the titans front is really good against the run which will force the patriots to throw the ball about 40 times, if that happens then Vollmer will have to step up big time.

Agree with PrairieMike on this one: the Titans were not as good as their record last year and no one has stepped in to replace Haynesworth. However, the Titans are not as bad as their record this year either; I still think they have a decent running game with Johnson (speedster) and White (power). If the Pats can stop the run, protect Brady and force Collins/Young to beat them they will win. Contrary to what many thought going into the season, our secondary is playing very well.

I don't believe I have ever posted that any upcoming opponent will be an easy win. Do I think we will win most times? Absolutely. The collective credibility of this board when it comes to predicting how easy our opponents will be this year isn't very good. We downplayed the Jets and lost, downplayed the Ravens and barely got by them, downplayed the Broncos and lost. Call me superstitious, but I cringe when I once again see an opponent get downplayed. We don't need to make the Titans out to be SB contenders, but geez.

There's a fine line between being a hard core fan and being a hard headed fan.